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Telephone hearing test free through May

Not sure if you're experiencing hearing loss? Call a phone number and find out.

The National Hearing Test, usually $5, is being offered free throughout May — Better Hearing and Speech Month — by MDHearingAid, a provider of hearing aids.

The National Hearing Test is administered over the phone.

Callers listen to three-digit sequences presented in a background of white noise and then enter the digits using the phone's keypad.

Similar tests have been used with great success throughout Europe and in Australia, but this test is the first of its kind in the U.S.

The test was developed with funding from the National Institutes of Health and is provided on a nonprofit basis, although there is ordinarily a $5 fee to take it.

The goal is to provide information to help callers decide whether they need a full-scale evaluation of their hearing from an audiologist.

The hearing screening is effective at detecting the most common forms of hearing loss: those that are age-related and those that result from exposure to loud noises or music.

It's not as accurate at detecting conductive deafness, in which the nerves of the inner ear are healthy but sound energy cannot reach them because of a problem in the ear canal or in the middle ear, or rare but serious conditions like acoustic neuromas (tumors on the eighth cranial nerve).

The test takes 10 minutes. It must be taken on a landline phone — one that plugs into a wall jack.

The test will not be accurate if taken from a cellphone.

To take the test for free in May, register for a free access code at www.mdhearingaid.com/hearingtest.

Read or Share this story: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2016/04/30/telephone-hearing-test-free-through-may/90908216/